Every January the LA TIMES Calendar section would devote a Sunday edition to all the new movies coming out that year. As you read through the thumbnails you thought, “this is going to be the best year for movies EVER.” Every premise sounded intriguing. Aside from all the sequels (even back then) there was one novel idea after another. And each film had A-list actors, directors, or writers attached.
Then you started watching them as the year unfolded. Ugh! What happened? One LONE RANGER (starring the great Johnny Depp you know) after another.
The following year would be the same thing. And so on.
Now that we’re in September we’re getting assaulted with promotion for the new TV season and movie season. Fall Previews are everywhere. And of course this year there’s not a single project that isn’t a can’t-miss.
Flash forward to November and half the new shows will be cancelled. CBS will wish they still had RULES OF ENGAGEMENT to plug in the lineup. NBC will beg the NFL to let them air football every night. Some highly touted movies will gross eleven cents in three weeks of wide release. And more people will be watching BREAKING BAD on Netflix than the new “hit” series.
With that in mind I recently leafed through ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’S Fall Preview. Wow zowee! One director’s hands were sweaty because the script was so riveting. Four or five actors were predicted to become breakout stars. Current stars gushed over their upcoming roles. Oscar buzz was everywhere.
And now I realize, I don’t believe ANY of it. They could be touting this new TV series called THE WIRE and I’d be like, “yeah, yeah, probably a piece of shit.” A new STAR WARS is coming! So what? This could be another Jar Jar Binks STAR WARS.
I feel like Charlie Brown and the football. Lucy tees it up, Charlie goes to kick it, she pulls it away, and he falls on his ass. And this happens repeatedly. Charlie never learns. I’ve been so inundated with hype, so besieged with hyperbole that I now don’t buy any of it. Sorry, Lucy, find another chump.
So then I asked myself, “if you feel that way, why are you even reading this?” And my answer was, “You’re right. This is insane” and I tossed the magazine away.
Obviously there will be some Oscar-worthy films coming down the chute in the next couple of months. And one or two new shows (out of eighty) will be worth watching. Please let me know what they are. You guys won’t pull the football out from under me...will you?